How to Fail at Flirting 💕

One night stand turned into something more?! Sign me up for all the books like this 👏🏻
Thank you to @berkleypub for a gifted copy! #partner

If you are looking for a steamy romance that has depth and real life subject matter that isn’t all fluff but still makes you laugh and makes you believe in fate, than this book is right up your alley! 
The main character just needed to break out of her shell (with the help of her BFF, hello loveee a good friendship mixed into a romance read) to show the absolute bad ass of a female that she is. She ends up taking no shit and going after what she deserves and it just makes you want to believe in yourself even more than you already do. 
And the steam level for how deep this book was is just perfect. 
I still can’t believe that this is a debut!
Thank you again to @berkleyromance for a gift copy! 

CW: emotional and physical abuse, blackmail

Well written romance with two very likable leads. The love scenes were hot and they had great chemistry.

I loved this book! It was fast paced and laugh out loud funny. Highly recommend this book to all my friends who love rom-coms

This book hit all the right notes. The dialogue was laugh-out-loud funny, the sex scenes were steamy, and the romance was swoon-worthy. Naya and Jake’s challenges were relatable and I found myself racing through the book to see how they would work it out. Having experienced a very similar abusive relationship, I found specific passages in this book very realistic. Denise Williams managed to poke and prod those memories, making me relate even more to Naya’s struggles. Well done.

How to Fail at Flirting was a fairly cute read. I enjoyed it and will definitely be reading more from Williams in the future.

I will say my biggest issue with the book was the hero's marriage/divorce status and how that was kept a secret from the heroine for so long.  Perhaps that's more of a personal issue with me but that really put a damper on their romance and I wish it had been talked about outright rather than being a cause for conflict.

CW: abusive ex


3 1/2 STARS

This was a delightful love story about two wounded people who find each other while recovering from relationships with the wrong person.

Naya is a professor just beginning to return to a normal life after years of abuse by her ex. At a bar to meet her close friends, who have to stand her up due to family emergencies, she runs into Jake and the sparks fly. On his part, Jake is separated from his wife, after finding his wife cheating on him.

Naya is horrified to find Jake is a member of the consulting firm investigating the possibility of closing her department at the university where she works. She is even more horrified when her ex, who trashed her career once, shows up at her university and starts threatening her again.

Can she and Jake find a way past all the obstacles to actually have a relationship? Can they really each be what the other one needs?

There were some smoking sex scenes, but not enough to distract from the story. The quips and jokes were fun, but the angst and heartache were well portrayed, as were the characters. All in all, “Just an old-fashioned love” story.

I was truly enjoying this book, and I loved the chemistry between Jake and Naya. I loved their highs and lows, their cheesy puns, and I was rooting for them the whole way. I did struggle with Naya's final interaction with her ex. It felt as if it was being used as a plot device to get our main characters back together, and that bothered me throughout the final chapters. A solid beginning, and a lot of chemistry-- I'm looking forward to what Denise Williams writes next. However, the ending to this book left a little to be desired.

I love going into romance novels blind and I was expecting a cute love story about a girl being horrible at flirting. While the romance between Naya and Jake was extremely dreamy, this book was more than just a "cute romance." There are some extremely dark parts of this story which may be triggering to some people depending on their own experiences with relationships. I appreciate the author's note at the end about the domestic abuse hotline, but I think it should have come with a little warning in the beginning as well. With that being said, the author did a fantastic job outlining Naya's past experiences and how it has affected her future relationships. There were some tough parts in the novel but there were also many beautiful parts. I loved seeing how Naya and Jake grew as both individuals and as a couple. Naya is also an education professor focusing on adolescent math education so naturally I related to that. There were a few math puns too which I enjoyed. Overall, a really solid, enjoyable book!

If this book was based of of a true story I'm pretty sure it would be mine. This book was honest, sexy, cheesy and all the mixes of fluffy my heart desired. Truly a cute and loving read I think most would and should read.

I REALLY wanted to like How to Fail at Flirting, but it started rubbing me wrong from the first few pages. I just couldn't get into the story and I found Jake kind of pushy and creepy. I tried several times to read this book, but couldn't do it. DNF at 20%.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

This was a delightful debut romance! I love when romance novels tackle difficult topics and really flesh out the hero and heroine, and How to Fail at Flirting does both of these things with skill. I immediately sympathized with and rooted for Naya, a type-A overachiever (as a Capricorn, same) who struggles to open herself up to romance because of painful relationships in her past. The abuse from her ex was often tough to read, but Williams handled this part of the plot with thoughtfulness and nuance. And let's talk about Jake! Jake was the perfect love interest: smart, funny, sexy, caring, and honest and vulnerable about his feelings for Naya and his own past heartbreak. I was so happy these two found each other, and this was the perfect Valentine's Day read for me.

Such a cute read!  Professor Turner is struggling with her work-life when her friends suggest a night out.  Could this night out turn into something more fulfilling...?

Stop what you are doing and ‘Gouda’ get this book!!  ( you will know what I mean by this pun once you read this amazing book)

I loved this book so much.

I am a huge sucker for banter between love interests - and Naya and Jake had it down.

I loved that Naya got to stand up for herself and finally got rid of her abuser and finally was seeing some healing by the end of this book. 

Stop reading my review and just read this book already!!

Thank you Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for an ARC to provide my sassy thoughts.

Naya (like a papaya) Turner is an awkward dating mess and my heart went out to her immediately given her previous relationship. The cheesy (literally, cheddar jokes haha) humor kept the story lighthearted when it needed to be, and the chemistry and conflict between Naya and Jake are palpable and propels the story at a great pace. Heavier themes in the story are balanced by the (awkward!) flirtiness in this contemporary romance, making it a substantive read. What a great story! I can’t wait to read more Denise Williams books!

Tw domestic abuse, sexual assault, emotional trauma, attempted rape, stalking 

This one, I had a hard time actually continuing to read. The cute and romcom sell and getting a book that heavily deals with abusive relationships leaves a sour taste in my mouth. One of the things in contemporary romance that really gets on my nerves (especially as someone that is impacted by author’s portrayals of abuse) is when a hard hitting subject like abuse is transformed to be a sweet palate for the reader. With a book titled How To Fail At Flirting you can imagine my surprise. Publishing really needs to start to process how they’re selling books to reviewers.

A down-to-earth rom-com filled with sizzling chemistry, miscommunications, awkward moments, growth and moving on. Naya is a professor of education, a program that may be cut, and has just recently gotten out of a long-term abusive relationship. Naya must try to save her job, rebuild her reputation, and recover from how her ex has made her feel. She embarks on a one night stand in an effort to let loose and move on. Enter Jake - the perfect one night stand or perfect relationship material? Trouble begins when her personal and professional world unexpectedly meet. Naya must choose what to put on the line and how to deal with potential consequences. 

The story draws you in and keeps you turning the page. Both Naya and Jake are loveable characters who you want to root for. Most of all though, I loved that there is an element of women supporting other women, and what happens when they do not speak up, rather than just having a man step in to save the day. 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are all my own.

*Warning. I giffed the hell outta this review.

My perverted self is going to admit something. I overlooked this book until someone was talking about how smutty is was. That jumped up and called my name!


I'm blaming the no shame part of my make-up.

It has a plot though! Naya is a professor of somekinda teaching thing. I'm gonna admit that some parts of the book bored me and that was one.
I was like a kid eating cheetos people! I wanted what I wanted.


Where was I? Oh yeah..her friends decide she is kinda a stick in the mud and challenge her to complete a list.


She meets Jake. Who turns out to be Mr. Perfect.
I'm serious! The guy does no wrong.


Some stuff happens like they tend to do in romancey type books. Including some relationship abuse history if you are triggered by that.
But guess what happened?!!!
Mr Perfect showed up in some dreams of mine.


I should give the damn thing five stars but I ain't. 3.5 stars for the boring parts.

Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.

I really enjoyed this book!  It felt like I was following along with a friend as she fell in love, with all the ups and downs, the vulnerability and uncertainty, and then the sheer shared joy.

This was a story that started out feeling like it was going to be sweet and cute, particularly based on Naya's dating checklist and the actual meet-cute with Jake. And that would have been fine and fun. However, I was delighted to watch the romance story morph into something with a bit more teeth, and I was there for it. 

Despite the flirty and very HOT one-night stand that kicked off the story, this really was a slow burn romance. Naya and Jake turn out to have a pretty big conflict of interest in their relationship (strains of the forbidden relationship first came to mind, but these are responsible adults, and they addressed their problem in a mature, responsible way, and it was pretty damn refreshing to see.)

What I didn't quite see coming was the tough content, which Denise Williams handled adeptly. While the blurb hinted at domestic violence, Naya's story took a much more serious turn that might prove triggering to some readers. 

Williams has created two truly likable, relatable characters that you want to root for in all their shared nerdiness. I loved Naya for her passion for education, teaching, and earnestness at which she takes on her "checklist." Jake was the perfect love interest - handsome, interesting, but down to earth, and just a wee bit nerdy. (Or a lot, but I'm ok with the Dad jokes because their relationship was also steamy and fun, and this made him all the more real..)

This was a steamy fun romance with a bit of tense, thriller mixed in the last part of the story. It was a fast, engaging read.